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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 08/04/1997CITY COUNCIL 4 AUGUST 1997 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 4 August 1997, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: William Cimonetti, Chair; James Condos, Terrence Sheahan, Joan Britt. Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Peg Strait, Assistant City Manager; Albert Audette, Highway Dept; William Burgess, Mark Crow, Gayle Barone, John Dinklage, Dan O'Rourke, Planning Commission; George Holcomb, John and Susan Jewett 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience (not related to Agenda items): No issues were raised. 2. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Ms. Britt thanked Mr. Audette and his crew for their work on the Orchard School playground. She invited the public to help put together the new equipment on 16 August. Mr. Condos also thanked Mr. Audette's department for the new striping on Kennedy Drive. Mr. Cimonetti announced a presentation at the Burlington Waste Water Treatment Plant on the work being done by the Youth Corps, Tuesday, 5 August, from 5-7 p.m., Mr. Cimonetti advised that the city has received the reply from the Police Officers bargaining unit asking for the dispatcher issue to go to arbitration for a final resolution. Mr. Hafter reminded people of the "Night Out" on 5 August. Mr. Hafter said he received a FAX of the report to Richard Turner regarding the escape from the Correctional Facility last month. Mr. Turner said he would answer any questions the city may still have. Mr. Hafter gave members the agenda for the Steering Committee meeting on Thursday. The main focus will be the new property tax legislation and community option. Mr. Cimonetti noted that a number of people from the city attended a meeting in Stowe last week and gave members information from that meeting. The Fire Department Open House will be on 14 September, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Summer Recreation track and field team finished first out of 27 teams at a meet held in Newport last week. 52 young people participated. Mr. Audette updated members on the Corporate Way construction. Munson is doing the prep work on the Hinesburg Rd. intersection. The tentative opening date of the road is 1 November, but Mr. Audette hoped it might happen sooner. The GMP poles are up and almost all the wiring is done. Sidewalks and curbs should be in soon. It is hoped that a left turn phase for the Dorset St./Corporate Way light can be put in soon. There will be three lanes at the Corporate Way/Hinesburg Rd. access, 2 for exiting. There will be a left turn lane added on Hinesburg Rd. The State wants to see how the intersection will work before putting in a light. Corporate Way will have a sidewalk on one side at present, with the second side being done at a later date. Mr. Cimonetti asked about street lights. Mr. Weith said that as developments come in, the Planning Commission is requiring them to do streetscape improvements. The recently approved Judge development is being required to put in some street lighting, the design of which has been approved by the City Center Committee. Mr. Cimonetti asked if there are plans to connect Midas Rd. to Corporate Way. Mr. Audette said not at this time. A study is being done on a connection to Mary Street. Mr. Hafter explained the financing of the project. The developer is responsible for the entire road upgrade to Hinesburg Rd. The intersection cost is being shared with the city, with the city's funds coming from impact fees. Mr. Cimonetti noted Corporate Way will become a city street when the city accepts it. Mr. Audette also updated White Street work. Driveways are being finished now. He said they will be asking to change the side of the street on which parking is allowed so that there won't be parking on the side walk side. This is for safety reasons. The Shelburne Rd. project is moving along well in Burlington from Home Avenue to the traffic circle. They are looking at some detours for the work to be done near I-189/Sears. This could shorten the proposed work time from 8 weeks to 3 or 4 weeks. 3. Consideration of approval of application to State of Vermont for $220,000 State Revolving Loan Fund at 0% for final design work on Bartlett Bay Wastewater Treatment facility; authorization for City Manager to act as authorized representative: Mr. Hafter explained that the city received authorization from the Legislature to get this loan. Tonight's action is the first step in the process. Mr. Condos moved to approve the submission of the application for revolving loan funds from the State Revolving Loan Fund in the amount of $220,000 at 0% interest for final design work on the Bartlett Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, and further to authorize the City Manager to act as authorized representative. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter expected the project to go for bid in the fall or winter with construction in 1998 and capacity available in 1999. 4. Joint Meeting with Planning Commission to discuss the following (and any additional) items: a. City Center: Discuss allowing retail use as a conditional use in the CD-3 District. Discussion about City Center plan in general. Mr. Weith said the Commission met with the Zoning Board who brought up the issue of CD-3 zoning. The portion of CD-3 that is on San Remo Drive has become an issue because the zoning allows only office and residential use. There are a number of businesses in that area that are asking for "low-scale" retail use because they are unable to lease the buildings for the allowable uses. Mr. Condos asked what "low scale" retail is. Mr. Burgess said that is part of the issue. He noted the Zoning Board is being bombarded with requests for variances. Mr. Dinklage said the question is whether to "kick start" some development there or to hold out and let the area continue to decline. Mr. Burgess said one thought was to control retail use by a time limit, but the question is how do you then shut down a business at the end of the time limit, especially if it is a successful business. He noted that there are a number of vacant buildings. Mr. Condos said the City Center Committee's idea had been to use the CD-3 zone to protect adjacent residential uses. Mr. Dinklage said the current uses in the area are not attractive to border a residential area. The zoning does not allow any major renovations or consolidation of properties that might bring some economic life to the area and improve the looks. Mr. Burgess said the real issue is whether the city is willing to take action to encourage the kind of development it wants in the area. He cited incremental financing as a possible option. Ms. Britt said her concern is that the city may wind up with haphazard development and asked if there is a plan of what the city wants the area to look like. Mr. Burgess said there is nothing specific, but there is a plan that includes building depths, on street parking, hidden parking lots, etc. There is no specific plan for the design itself. Mr. Condos said the buildings that exist there are tin construction that are about at the end of their useful life. It was the intent of the City Center Committee that they come down. There needs to be consolidation of a lot of little parcels, and this may need a local development corporation to start the process. He felt that once retail is allowed, the area will become all retail. Mr. Cimonetti asked if there is any other way to address the issue other than a zoning change. Mr. Burgess said no, but it would happen by variance if there is no zoning change. Mr. Sheahan suggested getting a committee of interested parties together to see what ideas they could come up with. Mr. Burgess stressed that if changes are made, the city will probably not get what it wants for a very long time. He felt that city involvement was the best way to get something the city wants. Mr. Condos said he would be willing to look at any proposal. Mr. Cimonetti said there has always been some level of city interest in a "jump start," but never a specific plan. He noted there is talk of a new Post Office in the city, but so far there has been no city or Planning Commission involvement. That might be a place to start talking. Mr. Cimonetti also felt the city might look into what is happening in Essex where they are also building a town center. Mr. Burgess noted that in Essex they are starting with open land. Members agreed to get a committee together to look into the issue. b. Bed and Breakfast: discuss possible amendments to the Zoning Regulations to allow bed and breakfast as a conditional use in the Southeast Quadrant. Discuss amending sign ordinance accordingly: Mr. Burgess explained that the Commission is looking favorably on allowing the bed and breakfast use, but they are concerned with big signs all over the district. They would like the Council to think about changes in the sign ordinance that would be enacted at the same time as the bed and breakfast amendment. Mr. Condos said that in recent travels, the majority of signs he had seen for such uses were 6-8 sq. feet and were not brightly lit. Members agreed not to "tie one another's hands" on this issue. c. Sewer Allocation Policy Mr. Weith explained that currently the Commission grants sewer allocation at preliminary plat or site plan review based on its allocation policy of "first come, first served." The problem arises when there is no capacity left and there are unbuilt projects "sitting on" capacity while projects that are ready to build cannot do so because they have no allocation. The Commission felt the best way to handle this would be through a Sewer Ordinance, so that a developer would have to pay to hold onto capacity they are not using. Mr. Hafter said the city has to write a Sewer Allocation Ordinance as it is now federal law, and it will be required as part of the city receiving funds for the Treatment Plant upgrade. d. Other Issues: Mr. Condos suggested coming upwith a plan to address dimensional variances in older homes based on the age of the home. He noted a similar plan is working in Middlebury. Planning Commission members felt this was a good idea to pursue. Mr. Condos also raised the question of distances between gas stations and the potential dangers from turning traffic. Mr. Burgess said they would have to talk with the City Attorney about the legality of considering such a limitation. 5. Review Zoning Board Agenda for 11 August 1997: No issues were raised. 6. Review Minutes of 21 July 1997: Ms. Britt moved the Council approve the Minutes of 21 July as written. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. 8. Liquor Control Board: Mr. Condos moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. a. Second Class License for Tandem Restaurant, Inc., dba Breadsmith, 1162 Williston Rd: Mr. Hafter said the application is in order. Mr. Condos moved to approve the Second Class Liquor License for Tandem Restaurant as presented. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. b. First Class Cabaret License for Doreen L. Gadbors dba Old Heidelberg Restaurant, 1016 Shelburne Rd: Mr. Hafter said the application is in order. Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the First Class Cabaret License for the Old Heidelberg Restaurant as presented. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.